Slumped
by BatFlashAquaven11
Summary: A tough mission lands our two favorite heroes in the med bay together. The team finds out some news that the two had neglected to share.


The javelin had returned to the Watchtower a few hours ago. All seven of the founders had been called away to help stop the invasion of a small peaceful planet, Limbor, located halfway across the galaxy. The invaders were tough, it had taken nearly a week to finally force them to surrender. They weren't the prettiest aliens to look at either. Each individual was huge, with long canine teeth and orange scales covering it from head to toe. They had long razor sharp claws on both hands, and some felt the need to carry a weapon as well. With the help of the Justice League, the invading army was eventually defeated; but not without casualties. Limbor's King had been killed right before the League had arrived. His young daughter would now have to step up to rule the planet and lead the people and rebuild the capitol.

Six of the seven heroes had taken hits as well. None of the invader's weapons had the ability to harm Superman. Green Lantern's ring was nearly drained, He had already hitched a ride back to Detroit to charge it. Wonder Woman was covered in bruises and cuts, and her hair had been singed by a flaming arrow. Nothing a quick stop at the salon couldn't fix. J'onn had been discovered taking the form of the invader's leader in an attempt to deceive them. He had been attacked with torches, but had managed to escape unharmed. He was slightly shaken up by the close proximity of the fire. Hawkgirl's mace had been broken, and was already working on getting it fixed or replaced. Batman had almost managed to get out of this ordeal unscathed. His decell line had been cut by an enemy's sword, and he fell nearly 20 feet, landing hard on his shoulder. Luckily, the battle had nearly been over at the point. John had popped it back in the socket for him without a word, and Bruce hadn't so much as winced.

The Flash avoided 99.9 percent of attacks, but when he saw an alien child had wandered into the battlefield, his guard dropped and he rushed to grab him. He immediately returned the scared and vulnerable child to his worried parents, and as they were thanking him, he was hit with an arrow in the back. It had gone all the way through and out his flank, and he ran out of the child's line of sight before he could see blood. Diana had been kind enough to pull it out for him, but with his energy running low and no excess food in sight, he knew it wasn't going to heal until they got home. That had been on day four of the six day battle.

They had brought plenty of food, but with limited rest, they didn't have much time to eat it. The other's knew Wally needed to eat the most, but that he would always make sure their was plenty for them. When they returned to the Javelin to leave for the Watchtower, they'd noticed that most of the food was still there. Immediately all eyes went to the resident speedster. For the first time in days, they had time to look at him. He looked far worse than the rest of them. First of all, his uniform looked about a size or two too big, indicating that he had lost a significant amount of weight in less than a week. He'd taken his cowl off, exposing his face that was slightly sunken in and he had dark bags under his eyes. His skin had a greyish tint to it, and his entire frame was slightly shaking. While it's not entirely unusual for him to vibrate when he was happy or nervous, this was a different kind of movement. In a word, he just looked exhausted.

He'd tried to play it off like he was fine, but his teammates loved to try to be the protective older siblings he never had. He'd just gone along with it, letting Superman lead him to a seat while Diana brought over some food. Green Lantern checked his vitals and Shayera poked the straw into a juice box and handed it to the young man. He hated being babied like that but he'd been far too tired to protest. Bruce had watched him out of the corner of his eye as he and J'onn did the preflight checks and prepared for takeoff. J'onn had to pilot the craft home due to the dark haired man's injured arm. The rest of the team didn't know, but Bruce and the redhead had been seeing each other. Privately. Romantically. Whatever you wanted to call it. It's only been a few months, but those who did know- Dick, Tim, and Alfred- noticed that Bruce had been smiling more and spending less time brooding in his cave. Throughout the flight home, the two had sent each other private glances. Or not so private. Whatever they wanted to believe.

 **ooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo**

It was hours later. John had returned from Earth and Shayera's mace was repaired and hanging from a loop on her pants. Diana's hair had already been fixed, although it was about three inches shorter than it was before the battle. The doctor's had checked over Batman's shoulder and determined it wouldn't need surgery, just a few weeks of healing. They'd get one week if they were lucky. Wally's wound had been a little trickier. The hole in his back had gotten infected so after a painful cleaning process, they stitched it up and gave him some antibiotics that may or may not work with his metabolism. Only time will tell. Wally had also been administered an IV that was continuously pumping his body full of calories. While the Flash's weight is hard to track because it fluctuated so much depending on how much he has eaten, it is hard to tell how much he lost during this escapade. The doctors predict he lost nearly 20 pounds in six days due to lack of food, sleep, and nearly constant movement. Besides the damage from the arrow, he had just been malnourished, dehydrated, and exhausted. For a speedster, that can be lethal. Luckily, that was not the case this time.

The others had gathered and were about to enter the medbay to meet with their friends when Clark came to an abrupt stop in front of the door, causing Shayera to walk into his back. John was quick to steady her while she glared at the back of his head. Diana studied Clark's surprised expression as he stared at, or rather, through, the door.

"Superman?"

"You guys aren't going to believe this."

His face was a half smirk, half pleasent smile. He gently pushed the door open and stepped inside, the others following suit. First they noticed the bed previously occupied by Wally West was empty. Their attention was then drawn to the other bed, which looked a little crowded. Bruce, out of the Batsuit and into a pair of black sweatpants, lay on his back with a sling holding his right arm. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were closed, his breath even. Curled up on the sleeping man's left side was the missing redhead. His torn spandex uniform had been replaced by grey sweatpants and a white t shirt. His bandages bulged from underneath the thin material. His head and left arm laid on the older man's chest and abdomen as he used them as a pillow. Bruce's good arm was curled around Wally, securing him on his side and holding him close. Diana looked a little bit hurt, seeing as she had a crush on the Dark Knight, but something made it hurt less it wasn't another woman that prevented him from returning her feelings. John and Shayera both looked amused, but inside they were both planning what to do if Bruce were to ever hurt their best friend and "little brother" respectively. As Clark opened the door to herd the other's out, the click of the latch caused Wally to stir. Bruce must have been more tired than he had let on. Wally shifted a little bit in Bruce's arms, causing Bruce to stir as well. Luckily, neither opened their eyes. Bruce just pressed his lips to the top of Wally's head and pulled him closer. They were never fully awake, and both soon settled once again. It was kind of odd for Bruce to not sense other people in the room watching him. Or maybe he knew they were there and just didn't care. Clark led the other's out of the room and shut the door as quietly as he could. Since it was a medical room, the door couldn't be locked, so he placed a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the handle to keep any of the other leaguers out. Then he turned back to the others.

"That was unexpected."

"Not necessarily," J'onn countered, and at the other's confused looks, continued "I've been picking up thoughts of infatuation and lust between Bruce and Wally for some time now."

With the exception of Diana, the rest looked pleasantly surprised. Clark blushed as he came to a realization about the noises his super hearing overheard when he passed Wally's room last week. John and Shayera smirked at each other, thinking of ways to tease Wally as well as how to convince Bruce to go on a double date.

Bruce and Wally were still sleeping peacefully when the others entered again later on, this time Shayera wielding a camera.

 **This ended up being about 1000 words longer than planned lol it was only supposed to be a drabble but then plot happened. Please let me know what you think!**


End file.
